26.1.12

Eyeball Calibration & Nuisance Printing

Last April we started printing the text pages for Oddballs. After a few weeks, when we were about a quarter of the way through, we looked at the six completed sheets and decided the printing was consistently too light (impression good, ink weak). Friends said they thought we were being fanatical again, and they were right, and so were we in being fanatical. So, the completed pages were put aside & the whole thing begun again.

When cleaning up the project last fall, we couldn't bring ourselves to throw away the first run pages. All of them remained in the order they had been printed, last back to first. Flipping through any given one, it was interesting to see where the color started, what we adjusted it to, and how well we maintained that color (this being particularly challenging when inking by hand). Even though the pages were printed too light in color, that in itself can be a useful reference. Overall, we found flipping through a set of the sheets an effective way of calibrating our eyes before a printing session. But only if each set of pages remained in order they were printed. So, we chopped the sheets down the center fold, leaving us with two leaves, each printed verso only: a pile of Frozen Dead Guys, a pile of Bill Miners, etc etc. About 60 sheets (pages) in each pile.

We did a quick perfect bind with some sunken cords, and used odd sheets of heavy handmade paper for wraps. Just before sticking each glued-up set in their wraps, we wondered, what would someone think this is, if they stumble upon it in a hundred years? (Besides a waste of time & good paper.) We were committed to doing a few days of long-overdue nuisance printing, and so made up a simple title sheet to go in the Oddballs pages, and a spine label. More on the nuisance printing to follow...

Rollin Milroy

Heavenly Monkey

Heavenly Monkey is the private press of Rollin Milroy (above) and a revolving cast of friends. While the history of books and printing are particular interests, we submit to no specific publishing program, other than books that we would want to own. Editions range in size from 25 to 50 copies, depending on the amount of handwork required to complete each copy. We publish an average of two new titles each year. Collaboration is by invitation; no submissions or inquiries please. Contact us at HM [at] heavenlymonkey.com